A spokeswoman for Catherine Zeta-Jones says the actress has proactively checked into a mental health facility for treatment of her bipolar condition.

Two years ago, the 43-year-old Oscar winner checked into a similar facility for a brief stay for treatment of her condition, known as Bipolar II. The disorder is characterized by mood swings and depressive episodes, and is commonly treated with medication and psychotherapy.

If you are in the public spotlight and need help with a medical condition like depression, it takes a lot of courage to seek the right help. After all, a lot of jackasses on public forums will bray and belch their scorn and ignorance towards you. Or claim that it is drugs or alcohol. Or state that depression is something that has been around forever.

I guess since cancer has been around forever it is the height of stupidity to get treatment for it. I guess since rich people can’t go through depression, they must all be drunks and coke-heads. I guess because so many people are so damn perfect that they get to mock those who go get help when they need it.

First, requiring hospitalization pretty much bumps a person up from Bipolar II (moderately bipolar) to Bipolar I (severely bipolar), if I remember my DSM-IV TR correctly.

“Proactively? She showed up and said, ‘Im about to go nuckin futz’?”

When you have bipolar in the family you will likely have to give your loved one the choice: “There’s the easy way, or there’s the hard way. You choose.”

The “easy way” is that I drive you over to and you voluntarily sign yourself into the cushy, coddling private mental health locked ward covered by your insurance.

The “hard way” is that I dial 9-1-1 and the EMT’s take you to the ER at the county hospital where you will be “Baker Acted” to the public locked ward with the collection of crazies and diseased that are found there. ( Baker Acted: a verb phrase meaning involuntarily hospitalized if you are in FL under the Baker Act...or fill in the name for the same 72-hour involuntary hold act for your state)

My grandson was diagnosed with Bipolar, ADHD and whatever the name of the one is where they don’t listen to authority figures....at 3.
OMG what an unhappy little boy he was, always just miserable. The docs finally got some medication that works, through many switches and trial and error, and now he is a different kid, a joy to be around. He is still hyper as heck but doesn’t ‘explode’ like he used too. He is almost 6 now.
I feel for anyone that really has these illnesses.

I have a bi-polar sister who goes from crying jags to an intensity that is just as hard to be around. She refuses to admit she has a problem and says the meds make her feel fuzzy. Not a good situation.

37
posted on 04/30/2013 11:27:25 AM PDT
by Crusher138
("Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just")

I can't relate to that horrible illness but I commend her for being outright and honest about suffering from it. I saw part of an interview where she discussed it and one of the hard parts was "coming out" and admitting publicly she suffered from it. She knew she was going to get ridiculed by people who don't understand the condition and she has come to accept it.

Exactly, if you have worked with, relatives, friends, etc who are seriously bi polar, it is a very serious condition. She’s lucky if she hasn’t alienated everyone around her. I know of cases where they hate and are hated by every single member of their families.

Through my experience with my son and a co-worker, I know that different meds work for different people. The tendency is to quit if at first they don’t like the effects. But after not taking meds and figuring out that it’s hard to keep a job and/or marriage both went back to the Doc and found meds that work for them. (Thank goodness)

If you are in the public spotlight and need help with a medical condition like depression, it takes a lot of courage to seek the right help. After all, a lot of jackasses on public forums will bray and belch their scorn and ignorance towards you. Or claim that it is drugs or alcohol. Or state that depression is something that has been around forever. I guess since cancer has been around forever it is the height of stupidity to get treatment for it. I guess since rich people cant go through depression, they must all be drunks and coke-heads. I guess because so many people are so damn perfect that they get to mock those who go get help when they need it. Sickening.

What you have written has given me depression, cancer, and addicted me to cocaine and alcohol.

A good friend of mine’s father had a history of mental illness and he does too but to a lesser degree. His son was bi-polar and ultimately took his own life and his daughter sufferes from it too and she is noticeably medicated.` She and her husband have chosen not to have children due to the likelyhood that they will inherit the disease.

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